Today is the day we get to know a little more about Switzerland.

These below are the countries we have seen so far, click and check them out.

1st Curiosity

At 41,200 square kilometres, the Swiss Confederation is the 133rd largest country in the world.

Why does Switzerland Refuse to Join the European Union?

2st Curiosity

It is the 99th most populous with a population of 8.6 million people.

3st Curiosity

It does not have any city with the title of Capital, but in practice its capital is the city of Bern which has more than 135,000 inhabitants.

4st Curiosity

It has 4 official languages, German (72%), French (21%), Italian (6.5%) and Romansh (0.5%).

5st Curiosity

The name of the country means Land of the Schwyz. This name comes from the German language and refers to a people who inhabited the region of the same name.

Basel and Switzerland Information for Beginner Travellers

6st Curiosity

The country is divided into 26 autonomous states called cantons and each has its own laws, some are even republics and its largest cities are Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lousanne.

7st Curiosity

According to the International Monetary Fund, its economy is the eighteenth largest in the world, with a GDP of $707 billion. It stands out in several areas, such as the pharmaceutical industry, banking services and various branches of technology. It is not part of the European Union and its currency is the Swiss Franc.

8st Curiosity

The Switzerland of today had its beginnings in the year 1291, when the first three cantons joined together to form the Swiss Confederation. As the centuries and conflicts went by, other cantons joined the Confederation. In 1798 the region was invaded by Napoleon’s army which transformed the country into a republic, with Napoleon being the President himself, basically it was the French puppet state, however, the republic fell five years later, but still remaining in Napoleon’s hands who dominated it until he was defeated in 1815. Thus Switzerland finally gets its own government again.

9st Curiosity

 Do you remember the question of the capital city? Well, since that time the country has not had a fixed city as the centre of power precisely because it didn’t have the culture of centralised power until then. The old political leaders of the cantons met annually in different cities, so theoretically the capital at that time was where they were gathered. After that it could be anywhere else, but in 1848 the country became a federation and the question of the capital came up. Zurich was already very important, Geneva didn’t even compete, and so it was decided that Bern would become the centre of political power in the country. However, nowhere in the constitution does it say that the city is the capital of the country, it only refers to it as the seat of government and where the Federal Assembly meets, but in practice yes, it is the capital of the nation.

10st Curiosity

You probably know that Switzerland was neutral during the Second World War, but its neutrality goes back even further than that, in fact, it has been neutral since the 1815 congress of Vienna, which reorganised Europe after the Napoleonic wars. To this day Switzerland remains the oldest neutral nation in the world. It is so neutral that it only joined the UN in 2002.

11st Curiosity

Even though the country is neutral, it has always been prepared, military service is compulsory and during the Cold War several nuclear shelters were built. Furthermore, some sources claim that until the early 2010s, many strategic points in the country such as bridges and tunnels were packed with explosives prepared to detonate at the sign of any foreign invasion in order to slow down the enemy.

12st Curiosity

It is on the country’s border with France where the world’s largest machine is located. The Large Hadron Collider is a gigantic scientific structure located almost 100 metres below the surface, built by the European organisation for nuclear research, it is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world. It consists of a 27 km long circular tunnel with superconducting magnets and various structures that accelerate particles to almost the speed of light in order to discover new subatomic particles. The organisation will now build another one with a circumference of 100 km.

13st Curiosity

Speaking of tunnels, the longest in the world is Swiss, at 57 km long the St Gotthard tunnel runs under the Alps and was built to strengthen rail connections between the north and south of the country. It took 17 years to complete and cost 11 billion euros.

14st Curiosity

The country’s three are among the most efficient in Europe and in addition to efficiency, there’s also the scenery. You can board one of them and go to the highest station in Europe, the Jungfrau station is located at almost three 3450 metres above sea level.

15st Curiosity

It has one of the most rugged reliefs in Europe precisely because of the famous Alps, the largest and highest mountain range completely in Europe, 14% is within Swiss territory.

16st Curiosity

Still talking about those mountains, that’s where the Matterhorn is, a giant pyramid-shaped mountain, is one of the most photographed mountains in the world, it is undoubtedly one of the most iconic natural symbols of the Nation. It reaches a height of almost 4,480 metres.

17st Curiosity

Even though the country is so advanced, it only gave women the right to vote in 1971. The last canton only allowed women the vote in 1991 after a court decision.

18st Curiosity

One of the most famous Swiss cities is Geneva, known as the capital of peace, where the headquarters of important international organisations such as the European headquarters of the United Nations and the Red Cross are located.

19st Curiosity

Zurich should also be on your priority list when in the country, the city of unrivalled architectural beauty is full of seaside resorts, parks, galleries and museums.

20st Curiosity

The charming city of Lucerne is known for the medieval style of many of its buildings. It is also home to the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, the Chapel Bridge, which was built in 1360 and unfortunately was almost entirely destroyed in a fire in 1993, but was soon rebuilt.

21st Curiosity

One of the country’s most important import products is chocolate, no wonder it’s one of the most famous in the world, in 2018 alone more than 122,000 tonnes were exported, incidentally, milk chocolate was invented there, it’s even where the Swiss headquarters of Nestlé is located.

22st Curiosity

Another famous product of the country is its watches, known internationally for their beauty, precision and delicate production process. Another famous product is the Swiss Army Knife, but this one is of German origin.

23st Curiosity

It is one of the best countries to live in and, together with Ireland, ranks second in the global HDI ranking, having one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Furthermore, it has very low levels of crime and corruption, however, it is pointed out as the most expensive country to live in.

24st Curiosity

It is one of the most innovative countries in the world, this ranking measures the innovation levels of 126 economies based on a range of criteria from business sophistication to levels of spending on education, research and creative output.

25st Curiosity

In all, he has won 28 Nobel Prizes, including the first person to be awarded the Peace Prize was from Switzerland, Henry Dunant received the prize in 1901 for the creation of the international Red Cross.

26st Curiosity

Its Flag is inspired by that of the canton of schyz and its colours represent neutrality, peace, democracy and asylum. The cross comes from medieval times, together with that of the Vatican, these are the only square national flags.

27st Curiosity

It has a total of 12 World Heritage sites, some of which include the historic centre of Bern, the castles of Bellinzona and the Rhaetian Railway.

28st Curiosity

The country has two enclaves in its territory, in the north Germany has a village with 1,400 inhabitants and an area of 7.2 square kilometres completely within Swiss territory. In the south there is an Italian enclave, Campione d’Italia, a commune of 2 square kilometres and a population of almost 2,300 people.

29st Curiosity

The Swiss Pontifical Guard has been protecting the Vatican since 1506 and is the smallest army in the world, with a contingent of approximately 130 soldiers.

30st Curiosity

And the country’s democracy is direct, i.e. the citizen can have a say in the parliament’s decisions. However, even though it is a republic, there are some differences, such as not having a fixed president, but seven representatives of the most important political parties who form the Federal Council, each leader heads a government body and makes decisions together. They rotate every year as Federal President, taking on all the functions of the office.